The Secret Language of Teens
Parents, if you think you’re up to date with your teenager’s hip lingo because you’ve finally figured out what they mean when they scream “OMG”, think again. With the dawn of smartphone technology, teens have abandoned the ancient art of passing notes in class and turned to texting their friends instead. Unfortunately, that means you have to do more than just dig through your kid’s backpack to unearth what’s going on in their lives. Not to mention, today’s teens have devised a way to evade your protective, prying eyes by singlehandedly creating a new language, undecipherable to the older generation.
Call it what you like. TextTalk, WebSpeak, or Textish. All we know is it’s doing a great job of stumping parents and leaving them clueless about what their teens are up to. This new mobile vernacular is comprised of acronyms, stealthily coded to deceive parents. The majority of these acronyms are harmless, playful phrases, like REHI – “Hi Again” or NGH – “Not Gonna Happen”.
But parents beware. Not all of these codes are innocent. And in today’s screenshot savvy world, every text, comment and picture is permanent–making it even more important for you to be properly informed. Here’s a list of texting terms to keep an eye out for on your teens’ screens:
